Convert GZ to TGZ — Free Online Converter

GZ is the GNU gzip compression format using the DEFLATE algorithm, compressing a single file stream. TGZ is the compact filename variant of tar.gz — a tar archive compressed with gzip — using the shorter .tgz extension that originated from 8.3 filename limitations on early DOS and Windows systems. TGZ is structurally identical to .tar.gz.

Converting GZ to TGZ decompresses the gzip stream, wraps the content in a POSIX tar archive for proper structure and metadata, and recompresses with gzip under the .tgz extension. This produces a properly formatted tarball compatible with Slackware packages, Kubernetes Helm charts, and embedded build systems that prefer the concise .tgz naming convention.

The .tgz extension is required or preferred by several specific ecosystems. Slackware Linux uses .tgz as its native package format. Kubernetes Helm chart repositories distribute charts as .tgz files. Embedded Linux build systems like Buildroot and OpenWrt cache source tarballs with .tgz extensions. These systems may reject .gz files that lack tar structure.

Converting bare .gz to .tgz also adds the tar archival layer that preserves file metadata, enables proper directory structure representation, and follows distribution conventions. A standalone .gz lacks the self-describing structure that .tgz provides through its tar headers.

The gzip DEFLATE stream is decompressed, the CRC32 checksum is verified, and the original data is recovered. A POSIX-format tar archive is created with the decompressed content as its payload, complete with tar headers recording filename, size, permissions, timestamps, and checksum. The tar stream is then gzip-compressed and written with the .tgz extension. The output is byte-for-byte identical in structure to what a .tar.gz file would contain — only the filename extension differs.